About Us
Hello!
My name is Christian Michels and I make wooden stacking blocks for home decor and play.
Our Story
In my house we had a big box full of blocks that were made by my great grandpa. All sorts of different shapes and sizes! My grandpa, dad, myself, and now my own son has played with these blocks (4 generations!) I remember fondly playing with these for hours when I was little and I think it helped my creativity, imagination, and problem solving as I grew up. So when my son was born I knew I wanted to make him blocks that would be special for him like the ones I grew up with.
After completing my first set of blocks (the classic set) I thought that other people might like these as well! So we set up shop at our local Honey Bee Festival and sold out...what little inventory we had (at the time only 23 sets). Since that time I've set up this website and continued to make blocks for festivals.
About My Blocks
I'll be honest that I didn't invent the rock shaped block, but the ones I make are certainly my own design. I wanted them to be able to stack very tall and have enough variety to keep both younger and older builders engaged. Each set has 7 different shapes of blocks and have consistent dimensions and combinations that builds well with each other. My wife and I aren't huge hikers or anything, but we live by a fairly large hiking area called Turkey Run in Indiana, and I wanted to replicate the look and feel of stacking rock towers along the trail. I didn't want them to look overtly like a toy. For me, letting the natural wood grain be the star of the show is important, so I never use paint. My blocks had to be attractive both in and outside of the packaging, which is why I've chosen glass jars to hold them. They are meant to be interactive art, purposeful for both design and creative fun.
Rest assured our blocks are not outsourced and manufactured anywhere outside the USA. At the current moment every block and every set is hand crafted by myself. I care deeply about the quality of each set. I make each block as if I was making it for my own son. Each set takes me about an hour to complete. Since I am a busy guy, I don't have a lot of blocks in our inventory at the moment, so if you get your hands on a set consider yourself special haha! If you have a large order please contact us first before confirming your order. If you get your blocks and are unhappy with them or have an issue, just reach out to me through the contact page and we'll work something out!
Avoid Breaking The Law
Come to find out, in some areas, stacking rock towers is restricted because of how it can impact the wild life. (I kind of think this is a bit ridiculous, but regardless) our rock shaped stacking blocks solve this problem by providing an indoor solution. Or if you're like myself and just don't get out much, they're just kind of fun to have.
Teaching Opportunities
I am a Children's Minister as my full time job, and now being a father of two, I am becoming keenly aware of just how many teaching opportunities there are with kids. I consider playing with blocks to be an important one. My dad would often sing to me a bedtime song and the most memorable one for me was about the wise man who built his house upon the rock. It's a song about Jesus's parable from Matthew 7 in the Bible. It's important what foundation we choose to build our lives on. Should we just trust our own understanding in life, we may end up like the foolish man who build his life on the sand. When the rains and winds came that house fell through because it had a weak foundation. But the one who trusts Jesus and lives their life according to God's word will survive all the troubles of this life because their foundation is strong.
Come to find out, there are many teaching moments like these that can come from simply playing with our blocks that resemble rocks. On occasion throughout history and cultures people built towers to remember something important. In the Bible people built them to remember something amazing about God! In one fascinating story from the Bible, humanity tries to build a tower to reach heaven without God, but it doesn't work out very well for them. Jesus also made a few important references to foundations using the rock illustration.
• Genesis 28 - Jacob sets up a stone to remember God's holiness and blessing
• Joshua 4 - Joshua sets up 12 stones to remind Israel of God's miracles.
• 1 Samuel 7 - Samuel erects a stone to remind Israel of God's victory.
• Genesis 11 - The Tower of Babel
• Matthew 7 - Jesus tells a parable about building a house on a rock.
• Matthew 16 - Jesus declares He will build His church on Peter who's name means "rock".
• Matthew 21 - Jesus claims He is the cornerstone and that the Pharisees have rejected him.
Thank You
I'm incredibly humbled to have my blocks so appreciated by others. What was originally just a gift for my son, has turned into a gift for many and a ministry opportunity for some families. We've been blessed to have so many therapists, teachers, ministers, moms, carpenters, college kids, young kids, old kids, and others appreciate the work we do. We hope our blocks inspire you! You were made to create!